MILLIONS took to polling stations across the UK yesterday to vote in the crucial general election.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 10 p.m. on July 4, with results coming in throughout the night.
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Millions went to the polls across the UK todayCredit: Rex Features
Brits woke up this morning to find that Sir Keir Starmer had claimed a historic landslide victory to sweep Rishi Sunak from 10th place.
In his victory speech, the Labor leader said the UK was once again experiencing the “sunshine of hope”, as he declared “we’ve made it” and said today “we’re starting the next chapter”.
How to follow the results LIVE using our interactive map
Simply follow our interactive table, where we’ve updated the General Election results as they were announced.
Be sure to keep refreshing to see the latest results.
In a historic night:
What is the voting system like?
The UK uses a first-past-the-post system – which essentially means that the candidate with the most votes wins.
This means that candidates do not have to win a majority of voters in the constituency to become a member of parliament, just one vote more than the person who is second.
This is different from many European countries that use proportional representation systems – where seats are allocated to parties based on their national vote share.
How does the prime minister decide that?
Whichever party leader wins a majority of the 650 seats in the House of Commons – so 326 – will be asked by the king to form the next government.
If no one wins an outright majority, the leader of the largest party is usually given the first shot at forming an administration, either as an unstable minority government or forming a coalition with smaller parties.
But it is not a clear rule. In 2010, Gordon Brown briefly tried to hang on by striking a coalition deal with the Lib Dems despite David Cameron’s Tories winning a majority of seats.
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What are the new border changes?
A major shakeup on the electoral map means that the constituency you voted in in the previous election may not actually exist or may have moved.
The borders of many seats have been tweaked, either to take over the areas of other seats, lose ground, or be done away with entirely.
The division was made in order to distribute voters more fairly so that there are no wild differences in the population of constituencies.
For example, the Isle of Wight – which had the largest electorate – is split down the middle into two new constituencies.
What happens when Starmer meets the King?
From Julia Atherley, Home Affairs Correspondent
After Labour’s election night celebrations die down, a sleep-deprived but victorious Sir Keir Starmer will be whisked off to Buckingham Palace to meet the King.
In a one-to-one meeting, King Charles will formally invite the Labor leader to form a new government on his behalf.
It is part of a constitutional ritual whereby the monarch as head of state appoints a new leader of the country after the voters have had their say at the polls.
The King and Keir will then have weekly meetings on Wednesdays to keep the monarch up to date with government business – but they are completely private.
It is customary for the Prime Minister to never leave out what they are discussing without aides present and without taking notes.
After the royal visit, Starmer will return to Downing Street to deliver his victory speech on the steps of No 10.
Sir Keir will become the third prime minister the monarch has worked with after Tory leaders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
The short-lived Truss was the 15th Prime Minister appointed by the late Queen Elizabeth II. just a few days before she passed away in September 2022.
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Source: HIS Education